DOCSLIB.ORG

CALL to ARMS Brunswick Civil War Round Table

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CALL to ARMS Brunswick Civil War Round Table CALL TO ARMS Brunswick Civil War Round Table Wally Rueckel, President. [email protected] or 910-253-7382 November 2011 Pat Evans, Newsletter Editor. [email protected] or 910-523-0297 Volume II, Issue 9 Mike Powell, Newsletter Co-editor. [email protected] Location: Trinity United Methodist Church 209 E. Nash St., Southport, across from the Post Office First Tuesday of each month (except July and August) Registration: 6:30pm Program: 7:00pm BCWRT is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization with a current membership of 301 NEXT MEETING IS TUES., November 1, 2011 In This Issue Pg 2 President‘s Corner Pg 7 Do you Know These People? 150 Years Ago November, 1861 Ladies‘ Department Pg 3 Synopsis October Speaker Pg 8 The Sutler Table Pg 4 November Speaker-Bob Mullauer Pg 9 History Revisited Pg 5 Patrick Ronayne Cleburne Do You Know – Answers Trip to Richmond Announcements-Information-Opportunities Pg 10 BCWRT Website 1 President’s Corner Wally Rueckel Last month‘s program by Brian Wills about my favorite confederate officer Nathan Bedford Forrest was very entertaining. However, I wish Brian would have said more about Forrest‘s military exploits so that you could have gotten a better understanding of his contributions to the confederate war effort. May be, next time. I am writing this article as I am packing for BCWRT three day tour this weekend of the Seven Day Battlefields around Richmond. I have previously toured these sites with our guide Bobby Krick. He is the historian at the Richmond battle field parks and knows these sites and interesting stories about what went on during this part of the war. I am sure the group of us going will have a great time and I look forward to sharing our experiences with you. Let‘s hope the weather holds up. Max Williams has already arranged for Bobby to speak to us in the fall of next year. Our next meeting will be November 1 with Bob Mullauer, President of the Baltimore Maryland Round Table speaking about the battle of Franklin Tennessee. This was one of the major Civil War battles fought in the West but I would wager that very few of you know what happened or why it was important. Come and find out. Let us hear from you if you have any comments or suggestions about our round table [email protected] 150 YEARS AGO – NOVEMBER.1861 The fall of 1861 saw a lull in the fighting, despite a call on both sides for offensive action. Nov. 1 –George McClellan replaced the aged Winfield Scott as Commander in Chief of Union forces Nov. 6 – ―Provisional‖ president, Jefferson Davis, was elected as permanent president of the Confederate States. Nov. 7 – Flag Officer Samuel Du Pont sailed into and captured Port Royal Sound, SC., securing another important coastal base for the USN. Grant fought his first action at Belmont, Mo., and gained valuable experience for fighting the battles to come. Nov. 13 – Lincoln and his aides visited McClellan, at his home, to urge him to action. McClellan snubbed the president and went to bed leaving the president waiting in the parlor. Nov. 21 –Judah Benjamin replaced Secretary of War Leroy Pope Walker Nov. 26 – A convention at Wheeling adopted a constitution for a new state called West Virginia 2 SYNOPSIS OCTOBER SPEAKER BRIAN WILLIS Dr. Brian Wills gave us an evening of fanciful Forrest anecdotes. This is never an easy thing but Brian does it exceedingly well. We are looking at a middle of the road man who likes living life in the ―grey area.‖ (Pun intended) Certainly not stupid, but without formal education (he never learned to spell). Nathan is a complex man who would rather beat you with his brain than his fist. Jim McPherson calls him ―a killing machine!‖ With 33 personal kills and 24 horses shot from under him, do you see why? Put him in that box and he wiggles out. He will be remembered mostly as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader who invented mobile warfare. Even General Patton studied his strategies and tactics as late as World War II. Castigate him as the first Grand Wizard of that secret vigilante group, The Ku Klux Klan, with their horrible reign of terror and once again he wiggles loose. He states that he also went after carpetbaggers, scalawags and Republicans! He is thus remembered as a leading Southern advocate in the postwar and reconstruction. MOST UNUSUAL is a good descriptor of Nathan. His life is a ―hard scrabble‖ struggle from the start. Dogged determination, a quick wit, accomplished ―yarn‖ spinner, shrewd gambler and an imposing presence (six feet plus and lanky) usually got him what he wanted. Resist and he will surely hurt you any way he can. He has made a fortune as a planter, real estate investor and slave trader. He was worth1.5 million in 1861. Neither Army has many officers who enlisted as a private and became a division commander. This ―Wizard of the saddle‖ was to be the most highly regarded cavalry commander of the Confederacy. His heroism at the Battle of Fallen Timbers shows remarkable courage. You just had to be there to hear Dr. Wills‘ wonderful retelling of the story that almost cost Nathan his life. Brice‘s Crossroads was his greatest victory. In 1864 his 3500 men swept 8500 Union Soldiers from the field. He got the scare in them and kept it there! No doubt more of his well-known phrases were used. Can you hear him say: ―Get there on time with just enough?‖ How about this: ―Boys, charge them BOTH ways-get ‗em from the rear and kill some damn Yankees.‖ Yes, he had a very foul mouth. His beloved Mary Ann Montgomery tamed him, and Nathan proposed on their third date. Forrest was a one woman man who embraced Christianity late in their life together. The Fort Pillow massacre as well as his Klan involvement ―colors‖ much of his legacy. Perhaps his highest compliment comes from Shelby Foote: ―There were two geniuses in the Civil War –Abraham Lincoln and Nathan Bedford Forrest.‖ Maybe a better legacy for one of the South‘s finest heroes could be: An untutored genius who was always there first with just enough?‖ Submitted by Dan Fink Seated is Dr. Brian Wills with Wally Rueckel & Tom O‘Donnell 3 November Speaker: Bob Mullauer “Hood in Tennessee: The Battle of Franklin” Date: Tuesday, November 1st Time: Registration and refreshments: 6:30. Everyone is welcome! Location: Trinity United Methodist Church, 209 E. Nash St., Southport. (Across from the Southport Post Office) Topic: “Hood in Tennessee: The Battle of Franklin” Program overview: This battle has been called ―The Bloodiest Hours of the American Civil War.‖ It lasted only five hours resulting in over 10,000 dead, wounded or missing in an area only 2 miles long and 1 ½ miles wide at Carter Farm in Franklin, Tennessee. The battle decimated Gen. John Bell Hood‘s army and ended the Confederacy‘s hopes in the West. Guest presenter: Bob Mullauer, Civil War historian. Bob currently teaches military history courses in several colleges around Baltimore; is a guide for Civil War battlefield tours, including Gettysburg, Antietam and Chickamauga; is a frequent guest speaker at Round Tables around the country, a group discussion panelist on various military topics; and, is currently president of the Baltimore Civil War Round Table. 4 This Irish immigrant settled in Arkansas and became a druggist and lawyer. When war came he formed the Yell Rifles, and began one of the most illustrious war careers on either side. An aggressive, reliable commander, at every level, served exclusively in the Western Theater. In the Atlanta campaign, in 1864, he seemed to be the logical choice for command of a corps, but was passed over after his idea that slaves should be given freedom, in exchange for service in the Confederate army, made its way to Richmond authorities. Nicknamed ―Stonewall of the West‖, he died in action, at the Battle of Franklin. For further information see: Dean Thomas, ―Civil War Commanders: Craig Symonds, ―Stonewall of the West‖ Muriel P. Joslyn, ―A Meteor Shining Brightly‖ Howell and Elizabeth Purdue, ―Pat Cleburne‖ Irving Buck, ―Cleburne and His Command‖ TRIP TO RICHMOND BATTLEFIELD TRIP OCT 15-17, 2011 RICHMOND RICHOND…………………….. The 17 participants that went on the trip, including our Wilmington friends were treated to two days of history, on the Civil War, we will not soon forget. Our guide R. E. L. Krick showed why the knowledge and experience of a first class guide can make your visits to battlefields so much more valuable than just reading the books. Bobby had access to parts of the battlefield, not open to the public, and he has permission to visit private property that the normal visitor cannot get near. His knowledge of the current efforts being made to preserve battlefields will only improve the visitor‘s experience. It is by far the best way to see and understand the battle, and take away more knowledge. 5 Of the Seven Days Battles, June 25-July 1, 1862, we visited all of the major battlefields. From the Dabbs House we moved on to Beaver Creek Dam and the beginning of McClellan‘s retreat. We went to Gaines Mill and the scene of the breakthrough, by Hood‘s Division, near the Watts House. After this, McClellan announced he was changing his base from White House Landing, on the Pamunkey, to the James River, and the safety of his gunboats. Gaines Mill was Lee‘s first major offensive battle of his career.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Civil War Chronicles, a Civil War Commemorative Quilt
    Civil War Chronicles, a Civil War commemorative quilt Read more about history of women and the Civil War: http://library.mtsu.edu/tps/Women_and_the_Civil_War.pdf Women of the Quilt: 1. Mary Custis Lee was the wife of Robert E. Lee, the prominent career military officer who subsequently commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. 2. Lizinka Campbell Ewell was the daughter of a Tennessee State senator who was also Minister to Russia under President James Monroe. In her second marriage, she married Confederate General Richard Ewell. 3. Arabella Griffith Barlow, Civil War Nurse and wife of General Francis Barlow, who spent much of the War treating wounded soldiers as part of the United States Sanitary Commission. 4. Jessie Benton Fremont, an American writer and political activist, wife of John C. Fremont, explorer of the American West and commander of the Western Region in the Civil War. 5. Mary Ann Montgomery Forrest, wife of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who followed her husband across many battlefields, described as “.. moving fro place to place as the scenes of the war shifted, like a true soldier.” 6. Julia Dent Grant was the wife of the 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, and was First Lady of the United States from 1869 to 1877. 7. Maria Garland Longstreet, wife of Confederate general James Longstreet, was the daughter of General John Garland. 8. Susan Elston Wallace was an American author and poet from Crawfordsville, Indiana. In addition to writing travel articles for several American magazines and newspapers, she published six books, five of which contain collected essays from her travels in the New Mexico Territory, Europe, and the Middle East in the 1880s.
    [Show full text]
  • Tennessee Civil War Trails Program 213 Newly Interpreted Marker
    Tennessee Civil War Trails Program 213 Newly Interpreted Markers Installed as of 6/9/11 Note: Some sites include multiple markers. BENTON COUNTY Fighting on the Tennessee River: located at Birdsong Marina, 225 Marina Rd., Hwy 191 N., Camden, TN 38327. During the Civil War, several engagements occurred along the strategically important Tennessee River within about five miles of here. In each case, cavalrymen engaged naval forces. On April 26, 1863, near the mouth of the Duck River east of here, Confederate Maj. Robert M. White’s 6th Texas Rangers and its four-gun battery attacked a Union flotilla from the riverbank. The gunboats Autocrat, Diana, and Adams and several transports came under heavy fire. When the vessels drove the Confederate cannons out of range with small-arms and artillery fire, Union Gen. Alfred W. Ellet ordered the gunboats to land their forces; signalmen on the exposed decks “wig-wagged” the orders with flags. BLOUNT COUNTY Maryville During the Civil War: located at 301 McGee Street, Maryville, TN 37801. During the antebellum period, Blount County supported abolitionism. In 1822, local Quakers and other residents formed an abolitionist society, and in the decades following, local clergymen preached against the evils of slavery. When the county considered secession in 1861, residents voted to remain with the Union, 1,766 to 414. Fighting directly touched Maryville, the county seat, in August 1864. Confederate Gen. Joseph Wheeler’s cavalrymen attacked a small detachment of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry (U.S.) under Lt. James M. Dorton at the courthouse. The Underground Railroad: located at 503 West Hill Ave., Friendsville, TN 37737.
    [Show full text]
  • 21 the Battle of Franklin
    The Battle of Franklin By the fall of 1864, Union victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Lookout Mountain (Chattanooga) had decimated the Confederate armies and dramatically reduced the territory under Confederate control. The Union blockade had created dramatic shortages of everything from salt to shoes that affected soldiers and civilians alike. Despite these challenges, the Confederates refused to admit defeat. Thus, while William Tecumseh Sherman marched his army across Georgia to the sea, Confederate General John Bell Hood, a hero at both Gettysburg and Chickamauga (where he lost his right leg), pushed his Army of Tennessee into a campaign where he hoped to recapture the Volunteer State, move into Virginia, link up with Robert E. Lee, and annihilate both Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. Hood’s plan was overambitious and, in a sense, delusional. One historian has written that Hood’s plan “seemed to have been scripted in never-never land.”1 Moving northward into Tennessee with 40,000 men, Bell tangled with the Federal Army of the Ohio led by Generals John M. Schofield and George H. Thomas. In late November 1864, Hood faced Schofield at Franklin just south of Nashville. The Battle of Franklin was a disaster for the Confederacy both in terms of casualties and morale. At the start of his campaign, Hood had little problem advancing through Tennessee. He had sent ahead cavalry, commanded by General Nathan Bedford Forrest, to ride around the enemy and cause chaos much like Stonewall Jackson had in the Shenandoah in 1862. After a small skirmish, Union forces held off rebel attacks but abandoned Columbia and looked to be heading north for the fortifications at Nashville.
    [Show full text]
  • HISTORICAL ARGUMENTATION… African Americans in the Civil War (See Writing Guidelines in Your Binder for Formula)
    Name:_______________________________________________________________ Class Period:____ APUSH Unit 4, College Board Period 5 HISTORICAL ARGUMENTATION… African Americans in the Civil War (see writing guidelines in your binder for formula) Step #1 Read the question or prompt carefully: Read the question three times and be able to paraphrase the question and know the essential task demanded by it. Answering the question will be the central focus of your essay, and you want to be sure to ATFP: Address The Full Prompt. Prompt: In what ways and to what extent did African American efforts during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras maintain continuity or foster change? Confine your answer to the years 1861-1870. Step #2 Brainstorm on paper everything that comes to mind regarding the topic at hand. Review the timeline on the back of this page for additional review, but do not depend solely on the timeline. Aim for at least 10 specific things. What do you know about the topic? Put this down on paper to get your brain in gear for writing the essay. Once you have amble information, categorize it by theme. (ABC) 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10. Step #3 Clarify your thesis/view and identify an opposing view. Make sure your thesis ATFP! Don’t restate the prompt! Y: X: Step #4 Write your introductory paragraph. USE THE FORMULA Historical Analysis Activity written by Rebecca Richardson, Allen High School using the 2012 College Board APUSH Framework and an adaption of a 2009 College Board released exam Name:_______________________________________________________________ Class Period:____ APUSH Unit 4, College Board Period 5 1861 -Civil War erupts at Fort Sumter.
    [Show full text]
  • Chicago (CMS) Research Paper (Bishop)
    Chicago (CMS) Research Paper (Bishop) The Massacre at Fort Pillow: Title of paper. Holding Nathan Bedford Forrest Accountable Ned Bishop Writer’s name. History 214 Title of course, instructor’s name, Professor Citro and date. March 22, XXXX Marginal annotations indicate Chicago (CMS)-style formatting and effective writing. Source: Hacker/Sommers (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010, 2007). This paper follows the style guidelines in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (2010). 10/10_A Bishop 2 Although Northern newspapers of the time no doubt exaggerated some of the Confederate atrocities at Fort Pillow, most modern sources agree that a massacre of Union troops took place there on April 12, 1864. It seems clear that Union soldiers, particularly black soldiers, were killed after they had stopped fighting or had surrendered or were being held prisoner. Less clear is the role played by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest in Thesis asserts leading his troops. Although we will never know whether Forrest writer’s main point. directly ordered the massacre, evidence suggests that he was responsible for it. Headings help What happened at Fort Pillow? readers follow the organization. Fort Pillow, Tennessee, which sat on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, had been held by the Union for two years. It was garrisoned by 580 men, 292 of them from United States Colored Heavy and Light Artillery regiments, 285 from the white Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. Nathan Bedford Forrest Statistics are cited commanded about 1,500 men.1 with an endnote. The Confederates attacked Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864, and had virtually surrounded the fort by the time Forrest arrived on the battlefield.
    [Show full text]
  • Tracing the Civil War the American Civil War Along the Natchez Trace: Mississippi
    Tracing the Civil War The American Civil War along the Natchez Trace: Mississippi Summary of the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads (June 10, 1864) Overall Background In the spring of 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman faced a huge challenge. He had been ordered by General Ulysses Grant, now commanding all Federal armies, to march into Georgia, seek and destroy the Confederate army there and capture Atlanta. One of the most important concerns for Sherman as he began this campaign was maintaining and protecting his supply lines. A system of railroad lines running from Chattanooga to Nashville and from Memphis to Chattanooga would serve Sherman as the main arteries bringing food and supplies to his army as it marched southward. If raiding Confederate cavalry managed to damage and destroy these tracks, Sherman’s advance would be seriously delayed or even stopped. Confederate cavalry under General Nathan Bedford Forrest had already carried out a successful series of raids into Tennessee and Kentucky. To Sherman, Forrest presented the biggest threat to his rear areas and thus needed to be dealt with. To that end, Sherman ordered that an expedition be launched from Memphis into Mississippi to tie down Forrest and destroy the Confederate railroads from Tupelo to Meridian and Grenada. In early June, an 8,000 man Union army under the command of General Samuel Sturgis began the long, hot march into Mississippi. Based in north Mississippi, Forrest was under the command of General Stephen D. Lee. Lee’s primary job was the defense of Mississippi whose railroad network and fertile farmlands provided much needed supplies for the Confederacy.
    [Show full text]
  • Album Portrays Leading Confederate Generals in Image and Anecdote
    Civil War Book Review Winter 2001 Article 26 The Picture Of Confederate Gray: Album Portrays Leading Confederate Generals In Image And Anecdote Wilbur E. Meneray Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr Recommended Citation Meneray, Wilbur E. (2001) "The Picture Of Confederate Gray: Album Portrays Leading Confederate Generals In Image And Anecdote," Civil War Book Review: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 . Available at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr/vol3/iss1/26 Meneray: The Picture Of Confederate Gray: Album Portrays Leading Confedera Review THE PICTURE OF CONFEDERATE GRAY Album portrays leading Confederate generals in image and anecdote Meneray, Wilbur E. Winter 2001 Cantor, George Confederate Generals: Life Portraits. Taylor Publishing Co. (TX), 2000-09-01. ISBN 878331794 George Cantor twice refers to Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg: once as "one of the great feats of valor in all of American warfare," and later as "a display of courage rarely equaled in the history of warfare." The author himself displays courage in selecting only 16 Confederate generals to highlight in his new work, Confederate Generals: Life Portraits. Civil War historians and buffs will surely have favorites among the 425 men listed in Ezra T. Warner's Generals in Gray that Cantor has omitted. He divides the chosen 16 into five groups: "The Legends" are Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Joseph Johnston, and James Longstreet; "The Cavalrymen" comprise Jeb Stuart, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Hunt Mor-gan; "The Western Commanders" are Albert Sidney Johnston, John Bell Hood, and Patrick Cleburne; and "The Difficult Men" are Jubal Early, Braxton Bragg, and Robert Toombs.
    [Show full text]
  • SONS of CONFEDERATE VETERANS, NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST CAMP #215 V
    06/04/2019 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE February 26, 2019 Session SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS, NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST CAMP #215 v. CITY OF MEMPHIS ET AL. Appeal from the Chancery Court for Davidson County No. 18-29-III Ellen H. Lyle, Chancellor ___________________________________ No. M2018-01096-COA-R3-CV ___________________________________ This is an action for injunctive relief filed by a historical-preservation society against the City of Memphis and a nonprofit corporation. Prior to filing its complaint, the society filed a petition for declaratory relief with the Tennessee Historical Commission that sought a declaration on the applicability of the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2016 (“THPA”) to two parks and related monuments conveyed by the City to the nonprofit. In the present action, the historical-preservation society requested a temporary injunction under the THPA to preserve the parks and monuments pending the Commission’s final order. The trial court found the society could not prevail on the merits of its claim because the parks and monuments were no longer public property and, thus, were no longer subject to the THPA. Having determined that the historical- preservation society failed to assert a viable cause of action under the THPA, we affirm. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Affirmed FRANK G. CLEMENT JR., P.J., M.S., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which RICHARD H. DINKINS and W. NEAL MCBRAYER, JJ., joined. Douglas Edward Jones and John Isaac Harris, III, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Nathan Bedford Forrest Camp 215.
    [Show full text]
  • Ending the Civil War and Consequences for Congress
    ENDING THE CIVIL WAR AND CONSEQUENCES FOR CONGRESS EDITED BY PAUL FINKELMAN AND DONALD R. KENNON Ending the Civil War and Consequences for Congress Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1801–1877 Donald R. Kennon, Series Editor Congress and the Emergence of Sectionalism: From the Missouri Compromise to the Age of Jackson, edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon In the Shadow of Freedom: The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital, edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon Congress and the Crisis of the 1850s, edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon Lincoln, Congress, and Emancipation, edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon Congress and the People’s Contest: The Conduct of the Civil War, edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon Civil War Congress and the Creation of Modern Amer i ca: A Revolution on the Home Front, edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon Ending the Civil War and Consequences for Congress, edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon Ending the Civil War and Consequences for Congress Edited by Paul Finkelman and Donald R. Kennon Published for the United States Capitol Historical Society by Ohio University Press • Athens Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio 45701 ohioswallow . com © 2019 by Ohio University Press All rights reserved To obtain permission to quote, reprint, or other wise reproduce or distribute material from Ohio University Press publications, please contact our rights and permissions department at (740) 593-1154 or (740) 593-4536 (fax). Printed in the United States of Amer i ca Ohio University Press books are printed on acid- free paper ™ 29 ​28 ​27 ​26 ​25 ​24 ​23 ​22 ​21 ​20 ​19 5 ​4 ​3 ​2 ​1 Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Finkelman, Paul, 1949– editor.
    [Show full text]
  • Lincoln on Slavery in the Territories: Assessing His Speech at Peoria
    Lincoln on Slavery in the Territories: Assessing His Speech at Peoria By: Paul Ashdown Civil War Review Peoria has a peculiar niche in political culture due to its vaudeville-era reputation, later enhanced by the Nixon administration, as the epicenter of a mythical American heartland. If something “plays in Peoria” it supposedly plays anywhere. In 1854, the city on the Illinois River had yet to see its first train, but it had seen Abraham Lincoln, who first arrived in 1832 on his way home from the Black Hawk War to purchase a canoe. He subsequently visited the community often to attend to legal and political matters. What prompted his return on October 16, 1854, was Stephen A. Douglas’s scheduled defense of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which had become law on May 30, but remained a divisive issue in Illinois. Lincoln’s ostensible purpose was, at the behest of a committee of Whigs, to back the reelection of anti-Nebraska Whig congressman Richard Yates, and to drum up support for Illinois legislators who might oppose the Democratic senator. Both Lincoln and Douglas had in mind larger purposes and ambitions, which played out in their more famous debates during the Senate campaign of 1858. Lincoln had given earlier speeches on the issue in Winchester, Bloomington, and Springfield, although it was Peoria that “played,” first in Illinois, and then on a larger national stage. Lincoln’s three-hour speech followed a similar lengthy address by Douglas, who had roused, and wearied, an afternoon crowd that had gathered in a large square in front of the courthouse to hear their bantam solon and the pre-mythic, 45-year- old Springfield lawyer, who, it was said, could give a good account of himself, although not yet in the senator’s league.
    [Show full text]
  • The Myth of Nathan Bedford Forrest
    Civil War Book Review Fall 2005 Article 26 The Myth of Nathan Bedford Forrest W. Fitzhugh Brundage Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr Recommended Citation Brundage, W. Fitzhugh (2005) "The Myth of Nathan Bedford Forrest," Civil War Book Review: Vol. 7 : Iss. 4 . Available at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr/vol7/iss4/26 Brundage: The Myth of Nathan Bedford Forrest Review Brundage, W. Fitzhugh Fall 2005 Ashdown, Paul and Caudill, Edward. The Myth of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Rowman and Littlefield, $24.95, hardcover ISBN 742543005 Simple man, complex symbol Authors contend Forrest represents the unreconstructed South Nathan Bedford Forrest poses a major challenge to any student of his life. Although his exploits include ample controversy and numerous life-and-death confrontations (on the battlefield and elsewhere), the man himself seems to have been remarkably uninteresting. Displaying little evidence of deep thought or introspection, and hindered by rudimentary education, Forrest left little that subsequent historians, biographers, and hagiographers can utilize to make sense of the man. This paucity, however, has proven no impediment to a robust industry in Forrest studies. The Myth of Nathan Bedford Forrest performs a useful service by providing a compendium of the published musings about Forrest and his significance as a symbol of the Confederacy and the white South. Ashdown and Caudill, who also have written a similar study of John Mosby, do not linger on the details of Forrest's life. They briefly sketch out his rustic frontier youth and his climb to the ranks of the nouveau-riche as a slave trader in antebellum Memphis.
    [Show full text]
  • Conflict and Controversy in the Confederate High Command: Johnston, Davis, Hood, and the Atlanta Campaign of 1864
    The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 5-1-2013 Conflict and Controversy in the Confederate High Command: Johnston, Davis, Hood, and the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 Dennis Blair Conklin II University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Conklin, Dennis Blair II, "Conflict and Controversy in the Confederate High Command: Johnston, Davis, Hood, and the Atlanta Campaign of 1864" (2013). Dissertations. 574. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/574 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi CONFLICT AND CONTROVERSY IN THE CONFEDERATE HIGH COMMAND: JOHNSTON, DAVIS, HOOD, AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN OF 1864 by Dennis Blair Conklin II Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2013 ABSTRACT CONFLICT AND CONTROVERSY IN THE CONFEDERATE HIGH COMMAND: JOHNSTON, DAVIS, HOOD, AND THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN OF 1864 by Dennis Blair Conklin II May 2013 The Union capture of Atlanta on September 2, 1864 all but assured Abraham Lincoln's reelection in November and the ultimate collapse of the Confederacy. This dissertation argues that Jefferson Davis's failure as commander-in-chief played the principal role in Confederate defeat in the war's most pivotal campaign. Davis had not learned three important lessons prior to the campaign season in 1864.
    [Show full text]